Mint

[sbk]

Got a slightly older PC that I am thinking of installing linux on. Only thing is, its public so it needs to be able to recognize the card reader plugged into it, the Brother fax/printer that will be plugged into it and if possible (but not necessary) people's mp3 players and cameras (hoping card reader negates need of cameras).

Mint looks like it could be the right distro for me, easy to use out of the box (sorry but life is stressful enough that I dont' want to mess around with the computer if I can't help it) and would need to be able to have photo editing software available to it.

Anyone use Mint? Or recommend something that would also work (minimal fuss, remember! I have a construction site next to my house and the jackhammers have already sent me halfway round the bend. The computer could easily send me the rest of the way!)

[dave_boo]

Linux Mint=Ubuntu=Debian with all sorts of non-free (closed source) software in it. A co-worker got a disc and installed it, and for a Debian based OS it seemed nice enough. IIRC, it has a graphical ndiswrapper and even had the correct *.ini for his wireless which was a nice touch.

All card readers should be supported under Linux, it's a standard that Linux has supported since way back when (I'm assuming you're talking about SD/xD/MMC/CF/MS/etc). Brother fax/printer is a google search away from knowing if there's support and if not out of the box, what steps should be taken. Amarok (a media library applicaton) supports all sorts of mp3 players, especially those cheap Chinese ones which are usually just mass storage devices. It also supports ipods, and is less hassle than using itunes. Linux supports cameras pretty well also, in fact I bought a cheap (as in uses batteries...what is it with Thai ladies not charging devices?) Pentax for the wifey that is recognised with simply plugging in the cable and turning on the camera. It offers to download the photos to a "My Photos" type folder. Granted I use KDE instead of Gnome (both are desktop managers, window managers to be pedantic--basically the 'program' that draws all of the fancy stuff on screen--Mint defaults to Gnome so I can't guarantee that the experience will be exactly the same) but the basics should be similar.

I would recommend SuSE 11.1. That's the operating system that I'm used to so I'd be able to help you out with problems.....Slackula would recommend Slackware, and other than the learning curve it's not a bad idea. Haven't ran across anyone using Redhat in this forum, but definitely stay away from Gentoo; you will lose all your hair learning and getting that going!

[Tywais]

I would recommend SuSE 11.1. That's the operating system that I'm used to so I'd be able to help you out with problems.....Slackula would recommend Slackware, and other than the learning curve it's not a bad idea.

I also found SuSE a very good distribution for workstations. Installation was straightforward and recognized all my devices. I also use Slackware 12.1 for my servers and installation is a bit more complex then SuSE but again, recognized all my devices. However, for a non experienced Linux user, SuSE is the better choice of the two.

[Gary A]

I was going to try opensuse but quickly discovered it to be a huge download. Is it possible to download?

[Tywais]

I was going to try opensuse but quickly discovered it to be a huge download. Is it possible to download?

I'm not sure what you mean by possible? You can download it via a torrent client or use a downloader such as Flashget. I did it through a torrent site using uTorrent. Both MiniNova and TorrentPortal show a lot of seeds/peers at the moment. But yes, the full distribution is a little over 4GB.

//edit - I just saw at the OpenSuSE site they do have a LiveCD version at around 680MB though it will be missing quite a few applications.

[dave_boo]

I was going to try opensuse but quickly discovered it to be a huge download. Is it possible to download?

One thing to try, and how I install, is the net install option. Slightly more involved when first installing, but you get to choose only the packages you want. It will take over night or less (not sure because I was asleep), or at least it did on True's 1024 package. SuSE has an instruction set here, andit's not too difficult.

The net install CD is only 89 MB, and depending on what you want on your system, it can give you a pretty small install.

[OxfordWill]

Ubuntu installs more trouble free tham mint and has larger support. Plus you can use a ubuntu install cd to "run from the cd" to check beforehand if you will run into problems with your hardware.

The only possible thing you would have to do is install a music manager like amarok to handle the mp3 players (which it would do very well).

I wouldnt go complicating your life with either slack or suse.

Edited April 3, 2009 by OxfordWill

[sbk]

My sister's boyfriend runs slack and well, tbh, watching him put me off it not that there is anything wrong with him but it all looks quite beyond my simple capabilities.

I might give Ubuntu a try then, just worried about drivers and supported plug and play type things.

[dave_boo]

Ubuntu installs more trouble free tham mint and has larger support. Plus you can use a ubuntu install cd to "run from the cd" to check beforehand if you will run into problems with your hardware.

The only possible thing you would have to do is install a music manager like amarok to handle the mp3 players (which it would do very well).

I wouldnt go complicating your life with either slack or suse.

What are you talking about with Ubuntu installing more easily than Mint? Mint IS Ubuntu with non-free software. I.E., drivers etc that Ubuntu does NOT ship with. It also is a live-cd.......

[OxfordWill]

simply because for a user, finding help on UBUNTU is easier than finding help on MINT. Dont expect them to know the technical similarities and stop pushing your neverending suse agenda at the expense of the experiences for those asking in good faith.

[userabcd]

Got a slightly older PC that I am thinking of installing linux on. Only thing is, its public so it needs to be able to recognize the card reader plugged into it, the Brother fax/printer that will be plugged into it and if possible (but not necessary) people's mp3 players and cameras (hoping card reader negates need of cameras).

Mint looks like it could be the right distro for me, easy to use out of the box (sorry but life is stressful enough that I dont' want to mess around with the computer if I can't help it) and would need to be able to have photo editing software available to it.

Anyone use Mint? Or recommend something that would also work (minimal fuss, remember! I have a construction site next to my house and the jackhammers have already sent me halfway round the bend. The computer could easily send me the rest of the way!)

Mint 6 is based on Ubuntu 8.10 and in my experience after 1 week trying to get a wireless USB adapter to work in both those distros failed and I gave it up. I then tried Ubuntu 8.04LTS and the adapters worked. Also tried PClinuxOS which is easy to install and a nice looking distro which I have now installed and using. Have a look at a website called Distrowatch.

[dave_boo]

simply because for a user, finding help on UBUNTU is easier than finding help on MINT. Dont expect them to know the technical similarities and stop pushing your neverending suse agenda at the expense of the experiences for those asking in good faith.

Wow, your reading comprehension sucks--and apologies to the OP for the thread jacking that has taken place.

I still don't understand why you can not wrap your mind around the fact that Linux Mint=Ubuntu=Debian(from my OP). So basically, you go to the forum, if you can't get your question answered here, that's the busiest from those three and the posters there will be able to help you--regardless if you post your question in Mint, Ubuntu, or Debian's forums. There was no talk in my post about technical details that differentiate the two with the exception of the ndiswrapper. But if she was to follow your suggestion there's a possibility she'd have to install ndiswrapper and enter a terminal just to get her wireless working; an extremely technical job that could be alleviated by going with Linux Mint.

I spent 237 words (1 154 characters) attempting to answer her questions about Mint. I used 1/10 as many offering a recommendation for an alternative which, in case you didn't see it, was requested by this line: "Or recommend something that would also work (minimal fuss...". It was clear, at least from reading it again on my end, that I was only recommending it because that's the system I know and I'd be better able to help should things go wrong. Offering a couple more suggestions, with a few pros and cons finished my original post.

If you're conflating answering a question posed (by GaryA) to "neverending (sic) suse agenda" I really don't know how to post a response that would allow you to understand that I wasn't pushing SuSE--I don't speak Neanderthal. However, I'll try. I have posted in the past many recommendations about SuSE. There has been the positives and negatives listed. If you feel that SuSE is over-represented, why don't you post in the Linux sub-forum more often and toot n00buntu's horn?

I'll admit that I have something against Ubuntu; it's becoming the teenie-bopper MS Windows of Linux. Browsing the forums reveals a bunch of inane comments and little actual feed-back. Perhaps the knowledgeable users are overwhelmed, or perhaps there are just too few of them on that distro; I don't know. Compared to my preferred distro, on whose's forums I've been able to ask very esoteric questions, that would have had Ubuntu lusers scraching their heads, there's no competition as far as the speed and accuracy at which problems can be resolved.

If you're upset that you made baseless, and false, claims and I corrected the issue; get over it. I've made plenty of mistakes in posts and I've been upset but unless you're 13 it's extremely petty to get your knickers in a knot over it. Howerver, searching through your previous posts, which are very light on the Linux forum, it's very apparent that you're generally not a nice person and rarely offer substantive comments to threads....

[OxfordWill]

Im not a "nice person" ? haha.

[sbk]

you two, get a room.

Mint does have a live cd, I downloaded it but for some reason cannot figure out how to do the md5 check so, it didn't install correctly

I am using it on an old desktop so wireless is a non-issue. No wireless on the desktop

I like the idea of having everything bundled and, near as I could tell, Mint is free

So, when my internet connection again becomes good (think my dslam box got hit with lightning the other day, lost internet for two full days ) I will give downloading Mint another shot, as well as Ubuntu --I dont' mind being a teenybopper dave

[OxfordWill]

ubuntu is the best choice for you. Normally people pay me $150 to hear that. Wait for dave to tell you he gets $300 for saying Mint (i'd believe it too).

[sbk]

I'll buy you a drink when I am in Bangkok Will, but sorry, no chance at $150

****edit Beer Chang at a 7-11 ok with you?

[dave_boo]

you two, get a room.

Mint does have a live cd, I downloaded it but for some reason cannot figure out how to do the md5 check so, it didn't install correctly

I am using it on an old desktop so wireless is a non-issue. No wireless on the desktop

I like the idea of having everything bundled and, near as I could tell, Mint is free

So, when my internet connection again becomes good (think my dslam box got hit with lightning the other day, lost internet for two full days ) I will give downloading Mint another shot, as well as Ubuntu --I dont' mind being a teenybopper dave

On Windows you need to download a program called md5sum.exe. If you want to check the md5sum on a Linux machine, you simply need to open a terminal and tell it to

md5sum your_iso

.

On a side note, if you have the time and bandwidth, you might want to look at Ultimate Edition. Has even more in it that Mint, afaik, and even has dvd::rip and codecs ready for transcoding dvds....

Don't hesitate to ask any questions, there's plenty of knowledgable people willing to help you on this forum (although I haven't seen slackula for awhile).

[sbk]

dave, I did download that program but, given the instructions, couldn't figure out how to get it to check my download.

[dave_boo]

dave, I did download that program but, given the instructions, couldn't figure out how to get it to check my download.

First, did you download the file and than move it to the C:\winnt\system32 ?

Than you need to open up a command prompt. Easiest way is to hold down the Windows key and hit the letter "r". Type in cmd. Hit return. Assuming your *.iso is on the Desktop, type in

cd C:\Documents and Settings\your_username\Desktop

on WinXP or

cd C:\Users\your_username\Desktop

You'll than need to tell the program to analyse the *.iso. If you haven't closed the command line yet, type in this:

md5sum your_iso_name.iso > test.md5

That creates an md5 file you can open with notepad. Look at the last eight or so numbers of the string and compare it to the md5 sum listed on the website.

[sbk]

aha, didn't tell me to move it to that location, did they?

Ok, well since the install I tried didn't work I will download again, once my internet connection is back up to snuff and the desktop is back from the shop (fuse blew in the lightning, we think and hope. If not, then the whole thing is academic because I'll be damned if I repair that old thing one more time-- and yes, it was plugged into the UPS. )

[OxfordWill]

see how much time youve wasted already?

With an ubuntu CD none of this happens.

[sbk]

I am not going to have a cd mailed to me Will. No time for that anyway, three weeks and counting

[OxfordWill]

does any computer you have access to have a CD burner? Just download the .iso file from the website ("ubuntu live cd"), burn it or ask someone to help you burn it to a CD, take it to your old computer and put it in, turn the comp on and off again. The rest will be intuitively easy. You dont need to have anything mailed to you. You could even put the "live cd" on a USB stick.

[sbk]

Yes, laptop does have a cd burner. Still awaiting desktop's return. With the full moon madness I have no idea what is wrong with it and how long it will take to get it back. But, I will bear all recommendations in mind, thanks for the enlightenment